What is Precise Writing; Know Tips, Do's & Dont's of Precise Writing

By Naveen Singh|Updated : May 6th, 2020

What is Precis?

A precise is like a miniature portrait of the passage: it maintains the vital absolute points accompanied by the passage author's mood and tone.

One aspect that needs to be taken care of is that one should not add one's subjective interpretation to the precise or comments and should try to retain the tone and opinions of the original author. Concerning writing style, one must make sure that one writes clear and efficient phrases (no rambling).

Ultimately, it's the coherence of the views you've presented that matter in the precise, and this can be achieved by making sure one's approach is accurate and to the point. Inaccurate writing, unnecessarily lengthy phrases or rambling ideas are not needed, and one should ensure that one sifts in a soft matter from one point to another.

 

In the end, one should ensure that the precise should be meaningful and logical in its presentation.

Following things should be kept in mind about a precise:

  • a collection of facts and statements from the passage.
  • Simply an abstract of a passage.
  • Simply a summary of a passage.
  • an outline of a passage

 

Features of a Good Precis

  • is characterized by clarity, briefness, and accuracy.
  • is not just lifting the initial phrases. It should be written in the phrases proper to the precise writer.
  • Is a mini version of the initial passage.
  • must have a logical order and be well linked.
  • should have coherence; must, therefore, use connecting words such as so, therefore, and, because further, etc. and must follow the initial text's order of thoughts.
  • must have a title.
  • should be written in reported speech.

Do's

  • Start by emphasizing the principal idea of the passage and create a contextual environment where you can write your points. When the main idea is identified, you can present the methods, points, facts etc. the writer of the passage uses.
  • Compress, clear and maintain thoughts, keywords, and data of a lengthy passage, article, or book.
  • Remove the superfluous and maintain the work's essence.
  • Remember always that historical mention should be made in the past tense.
  • State the objective of the study or the text State the purpose of the research or piece of writing.

Don'ts

  • Do not convey your own views, wishes, comments.
  • Do not insert questions. If necessary, a declaration can express its importance.
  • Do not use shortcuts or contractions.

When one is writing a précis, one should take care of a few essential points. The first thing is that one has to express the idea of the original text with complete clarity. The second thing you need to do is ensure that the precise elements are included in the initial passage. Finally, ensure that the exact language is clear, crisp and concise.

The following rules are general guidelines you should follow while writing a précis:

  • Read the passage closely and recognize the passage's core concept. The general idea of the passage is important to define and integrate it into your own precise concept.
  • Lookout for complete word count. If the amount is not given, use the approximations to rapidly calculate the amount.
  • Make sure you read the passage carefully to comprehend the passage, read it a few times before you begin to write a specific passage.
  • Highlight and make notes of the important points of the passage. Leave all the data that is not essential out of the precise.
  • Give your precise suitable heading.
  • Taking notes is an important job to write accurately. You should attempt to put the points in the logical order and make sure that the order of thinking is identical to that of the original text.
  • The three grammatical guidelines to be followed in precise writing are: write them in the third person, writing in indirect form, and checking the tense.
  • Check your rough draft, remove the chinks and guarantee you did not make linguistic mistakes.
  • Make sure you look at the original text in order to ensure you haven't missed anything before you write the precise.
  • A wise policy, at last, would be to count and place the word count in the bracket after precise is finished.
Example of Precis

Q1. Attempt a precis of the given passage in one-third of its length. Do not suggest a title.

It is very easy to acquire bad habits, such as eating too many sweets or too much food or drinking too much fluid of any kind or smoking. The more we do a thing, the more we tend to like doing it; and, if we do not continue to do it, we feel unhappy. This is called the force of habit, and the force of habit should be fought against. 

Things which may be very good when only done from time to time, tend to become very harmful when done too often and too much. This applies even to such good things as work or rest. Some people form a bad habit of working too much, and others of idling too much. The wise man always remembers that this is true about himself and checks any bad habit. He says to himself, ‘I am now becoming idle.’ or ‘I like too many sweets,’ or ‘I smoke too much’ and then adds, ‘I will get myself out of this bad habit at once.’

One of the most widely spread bad habits is the use of tobacco. Tobacco is now smoked or chewed by men, often by women and even by children, almost all over the world. It was brought into Europe from America by Sir Walter Raleigh, four centuries ago, and has thence spread everywhere. I very much doubt whether there is any good in the habit, even when tobacco is not used to excess; and it is extremely difficult to get rid of the habit when once it has been formed.

Alcohol is taken in almost all cool and cold climates, and to a very much less extent in hot ones. Thus, it is taken by people who live in the Himalaya mountains, but not nearly so much by people living in plains of India. Alcohol is not necessary in any way to anybody. Millions of people are beginning to do without it entirely. In India, it is not required by the people at all and should be avoided by them altogether. The regular use of alcohol, even in small quantities, tends to cause problems in many ways to various organs of the body. It affects the liver; it weakens the mental powers and lessens the general energy of the body. 

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